In Israel, polling day in a deleterious end of campaign climate

The leader of the Blue and White movement, Benny Gantz, in his polling station, in Rosh Ha’ayin, on March 2, 2020. NIR ELIAS / REUTERS

Rarely has so much mud been stirred in the last days of an Israeli campaign. TV stations continued to broadcast foul smelling tapes until the eve of parliamentary elections on Monday, March 2, the third in a year.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin of Likud Old Guard Deplored Campaign "Dirty and dismal". When he went to the polls, he claimed that he had "That a feeling of deep shame". He tries to raise the debate by regretting the political deadlock in which Israel has been bogged down since the first election in April 2019: "We don't deserve this endless instability", believes there.

Sunday evening, the 12e The chain has released an audio tape, in which it claims that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is talking to a rabbi, Guy Habura, about revelations harmful to his main rival, Benny Gantz. The conversation was said to have taken place shortly before the same channel broadcast on February 27 a first underground recording involving Rabbi Habura. The man of faith had gathered the doubts of the principal strategist of the campaign of Mr. Gantz on the strength of character of his boss.

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This close associate of Mr. Gantz, Israel Bashar, had confided at length to the rabbi on a personal matter. The two men also spoke here and there of politics. Mr. Bachar believed that Mr. Gantz, a former chief of staff of the army, was " a danger " for the country. "He did not have the courage to attack Iran", the day he made the choice, he feared. This defector of the nationalist right nevertheless played a leading role in launching the political career of Benny Gantz, a year ago. He was fired immediately.

"Mafia methods"

His Blue and White movement accused the Prime Minister of orchestrating these revelations, denouncing "Mafia methods. " Hadn't Netanyahu participated alongside a rabbi in a meeting in a Tel Aviv yeshiva, organized by one of his lawyers, shortly before? On Saturday, Mr. Netanyahu said he had never met this religious. However, the new recording published on Sunday contradicts it.

We can hear Rabbi Habura and his entourage promise the Prime Minister that the voice of Mr. Gantz's strategist would be clearly heard, without distortion, in the tape that would actually be broadcast. Mr. Gantz hastened to denounce "An ignoble campaign of hate" from his rival. For their part, relatives of the Prime Minister have revived an old rumor, according to which the Iranian authorities would hold a "sextape" of the general, after having hacked his phone.

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There is no guarantee that Mr. Netanyahu’s voters will hold him against this episode. The blows are low, but they strike. They refer Mr. Gantz to accusations of weakness that he has struggled to dodge for a year. Channel 12 broadcast a third recording on Saturday, this time from someone close to Netanyhau, Nathan Eshel, in which he assumes to shoot the campaign down. "Hatred is what unites our camp", says this advisor.

A tiny dynamic in favor of Likoud

Eshel says netanyahu’s trial for corruption, fraud and breach of trust, in which he is scheduled to appear for the first time on March 17, has not eroded his popularity, particularly among his electorate "Not Ashkenazi". He congratulates himself for having known "Whip" the hateful feelings he attributes to these supporters.

"If you didn't fly, why exactly did you enter politics?, he asks. We checked that. And to my surprise, they (the audience) do not understand this notion of entering politics to do what is good for the nation. You go there to fly and you have to be a man. " Eshel said his remarks were made out of context.

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The latest polls before the election signal a tiny momentum in favor of Likud, which remains in the pollsters' margin of error. Since Sunday, Mr. Netanyahu has been optimistic: he would miss his right "bloc" only one seat to finally win, more than a year after the evaporation of his majority.

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